Personality Matters

by Jennifer Munro

Author: Personality Matters. Maintaining the Fire and Passion of Entrepreneurial Thinking.

Personality matters in everything.  In relationships, trust, leadership, sales, management, parenting, teaching and learning, sports, politics and, yes, even religion.

This site will focus on how you can become more self aware of why you do what you do, think like you do, want and do not want certain things.  It will give you insight into why you see others as you do, and how they see you.

Carl Jung said “the goal of personality is wholeness.”  So, we will post features that lead to self awareness, and better decision making because of it that leads to wholeness, contentedness and empowerment.

Of course, the next step is understanding others almost as well as understanding yourself, and being able to have the relationships you want and avoiding those that you don’t.  Results are better personal, business, career and LIFE decisions.

How Did They Ever Get This Far?

by Jennifer Munro

Author: Personality Matters. Maintaining the Fire and Passion of Entrepreneurial Thinking.

I agreed to assist a client in screening some resumes he received in response to an ad for a sales rep. We were looking at recent college graduates who were just entering the professional sales marketplace for the first time.

I called a young lady who stated her objective was to obtain a position in sales although she had just graduated with a degree with a major in radio and tv. I asked her why she was interested in sales and she said she was looking “for something different.” That took me by surprise since this would be her first job.

So, I asked her why she wasn’t pursuing a career in radio and tv. I cannot make this up . . . but she said “there isn’t any opportunity there because you have to start at the bottom!”

I can only imagine the disappointment she is going to face and wonder how a university can pass someone through four years without making some effort to really educate their students on real life lessons. Well, she will still have to learn them somewhere. We agreed, however, it wouldn’t be in his company.

MBA Jungle

by Jennifer Munro

Author: Personality Matters. Maintaining the Fire and Passion of Entrepreneurial Thinking.

What Your Golf Game Says About You: Course Behavior

A game of golf can reveal surprising things about your boss, your client… and you.

Some time ago, a venture capitalist my brother was pursuing invited him to his country club. Rounding out the foursome was another duo of entrepreneurs also looking for start-up capital. Early in the match, one of them sliced a ball into the trees, then proceeded to kick it back into the fairway. The “foot wedge,” as it’s sarcastically known, is not one of the fourteen legal clubs allowed on the course.

“Did you see that?” the would-be investor gasped. “That guy wants five million bucks from me. Fat chance!”

Golfers have long seen the game as a measure of personal character, especially when it comes to handling on-the-course adversity. Would you entrust your money to someone who kicks a ball, or throws his club?

Yet, beyond character judgment calls, people’s behavior on the course can indicate how they negotiate, and whether they’re suited to sell, lead, trade, or communicate. Betting, joking, even driving the cart, all provide clues about people. The key to using golf as a business tool, beyond just getting hours alone with colleagues or customers, is understanding how to read the players and making sure they read you the way you want them to.

“There are style differences among types of people,” says Alan Fine, a sports psychologist and president of InsideOut Development, a Salt Lake City-area consulting firm specializing in performance issues. “Analytic types like thinking about what they’ll do, and spend a lot of time planning. Creative types are more grip-and-rip-it. They’re likely to step up without analyzing the wind, the club selection, and the target. You see the same decision-making approaches in an organization. Some want to think everything through, others want to take action immediately.”

Shelby Futch, a golf professional, and Jennifer Munro, a sales executive, have explored the links between golf and business while developing corporate programs at the Golf Digest Schools, a national chain headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. The duo divides the populace into four types, based on results from a survey they call the “NeuroGolf Profile,” which measures behavior and attitudes.

“Challengers” about 10 percent of the population strive to control. They’re assertive, decisive, and competitive, and tend to bet on the greens (and lead in the boardroom). “Social golfers” (20 percent) are extroverts, focusing mainly on relationships. Both types usually thrive in creative, authoritarian positions. Twenty percent are “technicals,” or conformists, who focus on rules and systems, while half of all golfers are “traditionals” patient, cooperative types striving for consensus. Technicals and traditionals typically aren’t big-picture people, but they get things done.

Sure, people may demonstrate varied traits, but, say Futch and Munro, they tend to fall into one category. A guy who chats about the lovely greens, tells jokes, and makes introductions is a “social.” A player who examines scorecards, gravitates to the driver’s seat of the cart, and proposes bets is a competitive challenger a trait you want in, say, a salesperson. A player keeping track of the hitting order is a technical who emphasizes process a desirable quality in a CFO. Traditionals blend in, calling less attention to themselves perhaps typical of support staff.

Pace of play is a leading indicator, and often a sore point between contrasting types. Challengers want to keep the game moving and get anxious when they feel they’re being held up. They’ll opt for ready-golf, wherein players hit the ball when ready, as opposed to the by-the-rules style of hitting in order according to who is furthest from the pin. Technicals, on the other hand, typically analyze the greens from multiple angles before attempting the putt – and begin to chafe challengers because they appear to be plodding and indecisive.

“You see it play out at the office, too,” Futch says. “The corporate counsel is patient and conforming making sure all the i’s are dotted and the t’s crossed while the sales guys can’t understand why it takes so long to get a contract through. The counselor is thinking, ÔHere he goes again. He never pays attention to details.’ “

The other big indicator, say Futch and Munro, is the amount of socializing players need. Are they chatty or quiet on the course? Introverts and extroverts are usually a bad match.

“Right away there is an element of distrust,” Munro says. “One is sharing, one isn’t. One is communicative, one isn’t. The introvert is likely to start imagining things about the extrovert that may or may not be true that they’re superficial or insincere or not focused on their game. If you’re trying to build a relationship, one of the first things to ask yourself is whether someone is outgoing or private. Then be mindful of how you’re coming across.”

But Fine, who’s worked with golfers like Colin Montgomery and Phillip Price, is cautious about extrapolating too much. “I’ve taken executives out on a golf course and noticed them become nervous and embarrassed about what people thought; whereas in a different situation, no problem,” he says. “They believe in their abilities in one arena but not in the other. It just depends.”

For Futch and Munro, the key is understanding motivations so the intersection of golf and business does not become a crash scene.

So, was the entrepreneur who kicked the ball cheating? “You could read the ‘foot wedge’ incident a couple of ways,” says Futch. “Venture capitalists play by the rules. They often don’t know much about the industry they’re investing in, so they emphasize trust. ‘Is this guy honest? Is he 100 percent accountable?’ They’re traditional.

“Entrepreneurs are challengers. They’re results-oriented. If there is no bet, it’s just a social occasion, the rules aren’t in effect, and kicking the ball back out to the fairway without a game on is meaningless and doesn’t say a thing about his character. If a game is on, the same guy may play a hundred percent by the rules.”

As long as everyone agrees up front, doing things that are clearly illegal in a competition, such as playing footsie with the ball, is kosher in social games of golf. What ultimately matters, though, is how people construe the signals. If the investor interprets the entrepreneur’s motive as cheating, he won’t ante up his five million bucks. Perception is reality and par for the course.

Five Reasons To Avoid 360 Feedback In Your Company

by Jennifer Munro

Author: Personality Matters. Maintaining the Fire and Passion of Entrepreneurial Thinking.

The idea of a 360 Feedback exercise sounds logical at first. And, the intentions behind it sound good, at first. The results and outcomes, however, indicate there are much better ways to get to the information, communication and improvement that are the main reasons behind doing a 360 Feedback.

A “360” involves asking subordinates, peers and supervisors to evaluate an individual as to strengths and shortcomings. The “intention” is that this “insight” will result in a much improved, more sensitive, more engaged and successful leader or co worker. Unfortunately, the results are dismal. 2/3 of the 65% of companies that use them say the results were meaningless or, worse, disruptive. Only 1/3 report any noticeable benefit. Shareholder value has been found to decline with the use as well.

Why doesn’t this popular and established process work?

1). The process does not allow for the biases of the respondents. People who are asked to complete the survey are asked to identify traits and behaviors they like or dislike in the subject employee. Clearly, people who are uncomfortable with confidence in others, decisiveness, patience, gregariousness and on and on, will answer differently with different values. So, the bias of the respondent will tell us only what motivates the respondent and very little about the actual subject. Where one person sees a visionary, courageous leader, another will see an insensitive, demanding one.

2). The promise of privacy and confidentiality does not work. Whether these responses are signed or identified by name or not, almost everyone who is evaluated can tell by the answers who said what and why. If they have recently disciplined someone for cause, and they get comments about being insensitive, judgmental, unresponsive, they KNOW who said that. For the same reason, people who might have something to say of merit may not because they fear exposure and repercussions; others will use that promise to really “let loose” on someone they do not like regardless of the merits because they think they can get away with it. Either way, the information gained is meaningless in validating it, or in creating any meaningful change in either party.

3). Most questionnaires have little relationship between the questions and the work that actually needs to be done.
If an employee feels “disrespected,” do we know if it is because they do not do their job, do not fit their job, do not like their job, or if they really define respect differently than the supervisor or co worker does? Does respecting the employee relate directly to successful functioning? If the supervisor is wildly respectful, is that enough if the performance is lacking?

4). Most results do not translate into meaningful action steps that relate to the performance, productivity or profitability of the organization as a whole. There is little follow up that matters. While building consensus, being agreeable, supportive and lovely with employees, does that mean we can expect employees to be dedicated, talented and competent? Making people happy or feel good is the core of what many 360 responses seem to desire, but these desires have little to do with performance or morale. Morale goes up with competence, productivity and profitability. It goes down with a nebulous focus on happiness.

5). People do not change because of the results on a 360 survey. Quite the contrary, based on the profile traits of the subjects, some will disregard the results altogether, some will feel insulted and attacked, some will feel ambushed. Some will get so distracted trying to be all things to all people they lose sight of their real purpose. Those who made the comments will be aggravated and feel disrespected because no changes really took place.

I dislike the 360 Feedback process for one big reason regardless of how many tens of thousands of dollars it costs, or how much time is put in to analyzing, assessing and reporting the results. It doesn’t address the core issue. Do we have the right people doing the right jobs at the right time. If we do, they are not spending time trying to figure out how to change their co workers and supervisors. Human Resources ought to be looking at how they hire, whom they hire and why rather than collecting more and more studies and information that tells them what they already know. We have too many people not in the right job or place. No amount of study will change that. Trust is essential and 360 Feedbacks have a dismal record building trust, or anything else for that matter.

Quest for Respect May Backfire

by Jennifer Munro

Author: Personality Matters. Maintaining the Fire and Passion of Entrepreneurial Thinking.

One of the greatest causes of conflict in any organization is the issue of respect. We are bombarded by pleas to be respectful of others, or demands for respect, or threats of withholding cooperation if there is no respect. That all sounds so simple, yet it is anything but.

The thing that gets in the way of true respect is that many people think that what they do is the foremost skill surrounded by the “necessary evils” of other skills. An example is the controller who creates state of the art reporting structures, technologies and the best information for capturing tax credits, avoiding penalties etc etc. That is truly a tough job, never ending challenges and truly one that the peers do not really understand.

A job done well by the controller, in my experience, is appreciated and respected by peers UNTIL . . . the controller loses sight of the fact that there are other important jobs too, like revenue production, client development, team building and the like. When a controller makes the leap past accurate and strategic reporting to trying to drive activity, vision,and priorities to FIT their processes, they quickly move into a place where all of the great work they do becomes a stranglehold, and the more choking they do on the freedom to act and innovate, the more respect they lose.

An example in a recent client company occurred when a company’s leaders and managers lost track of the myriad of tax credits they were due and the controller set up earnings directives based upon their errant reports. When the actual results were in, it was an additional $1,000,000 to the company’s benefit. But, it “threw off” the controller’s projections! OMG!!!

She flew into a fit like a banshee and eviscerated the hapless managers AND producers, for messing up her numbers!!!! An extra million in the coffers to hire people, improve production and marketing and she wants to kill somebody.

True respect cannot be mandated, nor demanded. It is earned. The greatest obstacle is to the person that does not realize there is no one skill or contribution that can create a successful company; that it takes many different skills and disciplines, all of which must contribute at a high level of commitment and dedication. The things one least likes to do must be done by someone who likes doing those things.

When people demand respect, they seldom get it. If there is no production, no customers, there won’t be any numbers or reports to generate.

We all need to be mindful and watchful of the temptation to think that our job is the hardest, or the most important. They are all important or hopefully the company would not be funding them in the first place, but that is a subject for another time.

MINDTRAPS ON THE GOLF COURSE

by Jennifer Munro
President, GolfMindRx.com

Author: Personality Matters. Maintaining the Fire and Passion of Entrepreneurial Thinking.

Golf courses are designed with hazards and obstacles to make them more challenging. As we master fundamentals, we try to work more on “trouble shots” to minimize our losses when we encounter these obstacles. Although we all know there is a very large mental component to playing golf, few golfers spend enough time on their mental trouble shots, or become familiar with their personal Mind Traps.

Personal temperament determines which specific Mind Traps will plague us most as individuals. While the mind can be very complex, most of us fall into fairly simple and predictable patterns of what distracts and deters us from playing the game to our own personal best potential. GolfMindRx, Inc. identifies four Mind Trap buckets that correspond to four primary Golfer Types: The Challenger, Social, Traditional and Technical.

Mind Trap #1 – It is all about winning and control!

The Challenger Golfer is typically a person who will fall into this Mind Trap. With a strong dominance trait in their personality makeup, they thrive when they are in control of all major aspects of their lives. This includes the golf course. They play best when there is challenge from the course, or from strong competitors, or both. They are focused and purposeful until they fall into their Mind Trap.

Challenger Mind Traps

• Losing Advantage
• Boredom from lack of challenge, competition

Reactions:

Choke the club, swing harder and faster, experiment and change the fundamentals they do well.

Mind Trap #2 – It is all about relationships and fun!

The Social Golfer is most likely to fall into this Mind Trap. With extroversion as their highest trait, they play golf for fun and play their best and enjoy their game when they are playing with good friends with positive attitudes. They are more externally focused than others and quickly become mired down when subjected to negative and complaining partners. They are also uncomfortable when they are playing well and those around them are not and try to shore up their partners.

Social Mind Traps

• Significant silence from playing partners
• Complaining, negative, or insulting companions

Reactions:

Over-swing, too loose, widen stance too much
Lose focus, focus on others, talk or listen through backswing

Mind Trap #3 – It is all about Practice and Respect!

The Traditional Golfer is most likely to be troubled by this one. Their highest traits are patience, steadiness and persistence. They thrive when they have plenty of time to prepare, practice and master their routine. They are most comfortable with traditional views and techniques and might prefer practice to playing. They remain internally focused unless there are obvious distractions they find uncomfortable around them.

Traditional Mind Traps:

• Conflict, dissension in partners or venue
• Time pressure, changing pace or format, unfairness

Reactions:

Take more time to address and execute each shot
Conservative, fall back and rely on comfortable shots and technique from past

Mind Trap #4 – It is all about Perfection and Discipline!

The Technical Golfer is challenged by this Mind Trap. Their highest traits center on conformity, or adherence to systems, processes and perfection. They believe in mastering the process and maintaining strict discipline to reach mastery of their game.
They trust credentialed sources and strive to incorporate the best of all of them and hold themselves to a demanding standard. They are comfortable with strict adherence to the process until the process lets them down.

Technical Mind Traps:

• Uncertainty, shots between clubs
• Criticism, Too many swing thoughts, Dos and Don’ts

Reactions:

Overanalyze, mentally replay bad shots, lose focus on upcoming shots
Hesitate on execution, indecision

Once you understand your primary Golfer Type and recognize the Mind Trap associated with your temperament, you are well on your way to understanding why you don’t always do what you intended to do on the golf course. To get an in depth understanding of your Mind Traps, and the solutions, go to www.GolfMindRx.com.

Your Expectations Are Too High???? Really????

by Jennifer Munro

Author: Personality Matters. Maintaining the Fire and Passion of Entrepreneurial Thinking.

Would someone please just tell me who in the world thinks lowering expectations is a good idea?  Where does it get you?  What has it done to our country?  Our ambition and achievement? Our independence and freedom?  I am livid at the  the nerve of anyone saying that to someone who has the vision and courage to have high expectations, given what they have to go through to get anything done! The only reason they have the nerve is there are so many of them, those who relish the land of the middle, of the mediocre.  These are the ones who didn’t want to go the extra mile to make something happen, who hate those that do.  By out numbering the achievers, they believe themselves to be legitimately entitled to  procedures and “movements” that blur the distinctions between the achievers and themselves and also just make it so difficult to get anything accomplished.

I am about to celebrate my 30th anniversary in performance consulting.  I have been involved in the battle between the visionaries and the champions of busyness the entire 3 decades. Instead of the usual thoughts like where did the time go, I think a lot about how fascinating this has been. The variety of assignments, places and challenges has been most gratifying and exciting.  The absolute best part has been having the honor of working with leaders who are true visionaries, who really have made a difference wherever they have been and who never left the path the same way they found it.  Trailblazers, for sure.

A lot of things have changed since I started my business, and my professional journey, many of which were unimaginable until someone did imagine them.  Others were unimaginable because no one ever thought we would do anything but get better and certainly never envisioned there would be such strong forces relishing mediocrity and worse, failure.

I was fortunate to grow up in a time when achievement was important, and rewarded and when heroes and visionary thinkers were admired.  It was also a time when America was accepted as being exceptional and known to have an exceptional destiny and role to fill.   None of that is different, but the forces that resent achievement, trailblazers and an exceptional America have grown in number and power. Ironically, they have grown primarily because of the opportunities given to them by the efforts of those exceptional leaders they resent. They think the fog of grayness and sameness is prettier than the blue skies of vision and pushing the boundaries.

When I grew up the message was “you can be anything you want to be” if you are willing to work for it and care enough about it.  It was always assumed you would want to be something special.  Now the message is that we are all the same and should not want anything that everyone cannot have or be. Worse, we should stifle our enthusiasm, vision and dreams and apologize for talent and desire.

A case in point is that virtually every one of my dynamic clients, who by their accomplishments, risk tolerance, and courage have created companies of integrity and value,  have all been told over and over that “their expectations are too high.”  Many of them admit that they have, at times, almost believed that, and they have tried to subdue their vision of how things could and ought to be to be “less threatening” to others.

Anyone who has tried to blunt vision and achievement by ever saying “your expectations are too high,” needs to assess where that comes from.  Why are their expectations so low.  Shame on them and God Bless you for ignoring them and pushing on.  I am blessed to know many of you. Your expectations are a gift, and you have been given the talents to achieve them.

Five Reasons Americans Hate Their Jobs, (Here we go again.)

by Jennifer Munro

Author: Personality Matters. Maintaining the Fire and Passion of Entrepreneurial Thinking.

Another report of dubious origin is making headlines today that most (80%) people hate their jobs.  This comes out, interestingly enough, just on the heels of our current Administration, promoting that people really ought to be able to “opt out” of working if they want to, and I suspect that is because the Administration finally realized government doesn’t create jobs, except in working for government.  Even so, this report is nothing new although it blames new things, like technology,  mean, greedy owners, the recession, the evil Congress.  I always thought having a miserable workforce contributed seriously to the recession, but not according to this report.

This looks like one more crazy side trip to me because throughout history, it has been apparent that people who contribute something of value, doing something they enjoy, are more contented, have more self esteem and satisfaction, make a good impact on the lives of those around them and, as a by product, are more productive, which is helpful in avoiding recessions.

We cannot count all of the satisfaction surveys, reports and studies that have been done in the last 50 years.  No matter who does them, no matter who takes them, no matter the methodology, 75-80% have been dissatisfied with their jobs.  And, the reasons have not varied.
#1 – Relationship with the IMMEDIATE supervisor.  Always number one, always the most impacting, and even so, management promotions still have very little to do with whether a person can “manage” people, likes people, or could even do the job they are now managing.

#2 – Job does not match their interests, traits or skill sets. Eight out of ten say they are not doing work that has anything to do with what they are good at or like, or what they thought it was going to be when they took the job.  Of course, some employees also major in things that no one wants to pay for and get mad at companies because of it.

#3 – Gutless managers.  Failure to differentiate between good and poor performers and failure to support good performers.  Managers often spend more time and effort on the poor performers, pay them the same, and demoralize the dedicated and talented performers.

#4 – Meaningless incentives and rewards.  Incentive systems that do not acknowledge or differentiate between best and not best.  Everyone shares regardless of contribution or results.

#5 – Lack of clarity in expectations.  Performance is a moving target, communication is unclear and inconsistent.   Employees thrive when they know exactly what is expected and how they are doing without being told.

All of this occurs in an environment that runs away from good leadership and is uncomfortable with results as a barometer.   Good intentions and warm fuzzy ideas lull us from thinking leadership and results really matter.  Maybe we just need a few more studies but I think we need to liberate a few more courageous leaders, a reverence for common sense and rewards based upon results.

Are You Part of the Problem?

by Jennifer Munro

Author: Personality Matters. Maintaining the Fire and Passion of Entrepreneurial Thinking.

I am preparing a workshop for a company that has an exceptional track record of success and yet has a notable morale problem. In general, good sales, profits and performance generate good morale, so this one presents a new challenge. By interviewing people throughout the company, and in their customer base, it is apparent that the morale issues are generated by a group of 5 people in a company of several hundred. How can this be????

The group is in the center of every transaction, and every activity. They are the support center. They have been in the company a long time, though their ages vary from late 30’s to early 50’s. They have resisted every new technology that has been introduced and every attempt to elevate their performance, and most particularly their attitudes. If you ask them, they will tell you they have grievances from long ago, some so long they can’t even remember the specific circumstances and some involving people who are no longer there.

While employees throughout the company are proud of their company, energetic and enthusiastic about a company that has excelled for over 100 years, this little group can find very little good to say. They go to training with a grudge, they blame everyone and everything else and have become to be kind, a real drag.

My first question to the manager is WHY are they still here, doing the same thing with the same morose perspectives? His answer is that he is not allowed to do anything about it! I asked the president and he said that he doesn’t believe in firing people. I think they have tried a lot of things and this group, which insulates itself behind closed doors, relates only within if at all, and I think of the “hostages” they have made of those who must work through them, around them and over them.

I plan to meet with them alone. I plan to ask them what they get out of working this way. I will try to identify the core problems, and the core beliefs they have adopted that generate this standoff. I will even do my best to introduce solutions and perspectives that will allow them to find joy and purpose in what they do and reaffiliate them with their coworkers. I am optimistic but prepared with plan B to help this company free itself of this unnecessary burden.

So many companies are held hostage by a person or a group with a curmudgeon attitude. Sure, we hate to see it, and we feel badly for those people, but it is a shame that once we offer everything possible to assist them to a better place, they seek the comfort level that is their malaise. Many times, these attitudes have less to do with the work place than with their lives in general and there is only so much we can do.

In these cases, I would like all of those who lead, or who manage (these are not the same by the way) to take hold of the concept that accountability is not a four-letter word. Accountability is a good word and bringing it to every individual builds esteem, morale, health and well being to the companies and all in them.

So many times, we are conflicted about when we can act and when we should be compassionate. The two are not mutually exclusive. Acting by making tough decisions is compassionate. This group of malcontents is not going to be any happier because we overlook their obstructionism and bitterness but only when and if they can find value in what they do, with whom they work and themselves.

In DEVELOPING THE LEADER AROUND YOU, John Maxwell highlights tough leadership decisions Paul made by separating non performers from his people (Acts 15 :38). Maxwell states clearly that not doing so undermines a company’s ability to achieve its purpose, affects morale of high performers, undermines the leader’s credibility and does nothing to elevate the low performer’s self image or effectiveness.

Attitude and responsibility are choices. If you are not leading the charge for accountability, or are not yourself feeling accountable for your role every day, then you could be a bigger part of the problem that you realize. Good jobs in good companies are scarce. Let’s make room for the committed, dedicated, responsible and can we dare hope, enthusiastic and cheerful!